Photoshop PC

[ranjan2001]

I need config of a Photoshop PC for a friend who will only use this for graphic works with photoshop, coreldraw & such softwares. He have no requirement for any 3D softwares or graphic heavy games just plain music with 5.1 speakers, 24 hrs internet etc.
He does lot of multi tasking such as music, downloding, surfing, photoshoping & background batch processing so he will use it as a multi task machine.

I suggested him the following & checked up the prices at Nehru place today. Is this a good config or can it be improvised further.

Core2duo E6600 Rs 15500/-
isnt 6400 good for it with 2mb L2cache???

ASUS P5B-E Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard Rs 9800/-


*www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Order=POPULARITY&Page=1&Nty=1&N=0&Submit=ENE&Description=+ASUS+P5B&Ntk=all
There are many of them dont know which one is available in India, he does not need the wifi deluxe mbo for sure since only 1 comp at his place its useless.

Kingston 1gb/800FSB Rs 9200/- (members here have got it for lesser price)

Samsung LCD 940BW widescreen Rs 14800/-

Graphic card
MSI 7300GT Rs 4800/-
XFX 7600GT Rs 10600/-
Gfx 6600GT ????????

Geforce 6800 ???????


Do we need Pci-E card for photoshop or can do away with AGP 256 mb card they are much less within 3500/- 7000/-
Suggest me the lowest ones which can work good enough & supprts custom resolution to run 1440x900.

Does photoshop needs or make use of heavy graphic cards meant for gaming?

TV tuner card
Pinnacle PC TV analog PCI card Rs 2200/-
This can record & pause live TV same as XP media center.

Suggest a cabinet & a cooling solution please for this.

 

[[xubz]]

Does photoshop needs or make use of heavy graphic cards meant for gaming?

NO!!!! Photoshop only needs Fast Processor and Humongous Amount of RAM..

Go For these Specs:

• Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 (Its worth It!!)
• (A Compatible Intel 965 Mobo)
• Kingston 1GB*2 DDR-800
• Seagate 160GB*2 7200RPM SATA2 HDD's for RAID-0 Array
• Dual 19" Monitors (I Feel that my Single 17" One is too Less for Photoshop Work)
• Et Cetra
• Edit: If you need to use a Dual Monitor Setup, then you'll need a Gfx Card, Get a Geforce 7300GT 256MB

You'll Absolutely Not Need any Graphic Cards unless you Do 3D-Animation or Modelling.. Photoshop is just a Raster Graphics Software (but It Needs all the Ram you can Get )

(Edit: Fixed some Specs)

 

[ranjan2001]

NO!!!! Photoshop only needs Fast Processor and Humongous Amount of RAM.

Thanks for confirming then I need a cheep card which has a DVI so it can support custom res of 1440x900, any AGP will do the job I guess no need to buy PCI-e.

Kingston 1GB*2 DDR-667

Is it better to use 2 sticks than just single 2GB stick??

The monitor is 19inch wide screen so that will take care of space as you suggest 17 inch is too less for PSCS tool pallets.

7600GT does have 2 dvi port so he can use dual monitor setup if needed. Is the price ok Rs 10600/-

 

[[xubz]]

Is it better to use 2 sticks than just single 2GB stick??

Running Memory in Dual-Channel will Result in Double Bandwidth!!
i.e. 2*DDR-800 = 1*DDR-1600!!

 

[goobimama]

Where are you getting this AGP thing? First of all I don't think that board will support AGP. Secondly, the price difference between AGP and PCIe is the negligible.

And like subzz said, you need a lot of RAM and a fast processor. That 4MB L2 cache will do you good.

A graphics card is not a relevant factor in this config.

 

[ranjan2001]

You are right this board does not have a AGP slot instead PCi slots are there.
*images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/productimage/13-131-030-04.JPG

Can you suggest any cheap graphic card with DVI port PCI or PCI-E which does the job. I can save money here & use more Ram instead.

 

[gxsaurav]

a graphics card is indeed a relevent factor in this config, just not high grade, or even mainstream gaming grade graphics card

when u work in photoshop, what u see on screen is saved in the graphics card as the frame buffer, both in the case of XP SP2 or Vista or Mac, this is most appereant when working with 4K images of HDR images with onboard graphics, when moving arround the photoshop viewport crawls

just get a PCIe 7300GS, with 256 MB RAM, thats enough for this task

1 GB X2 RAM modules is a better choice

U can go for both core 2 duo E6400 (saving some money) or E6600, there will be difference, but only a max of 10%, so if u are tight on budget get E6400. an operation which takes 2 mins in E6600 will take 2 minute 40 seconds in E6400 at max, i do think u can spare 40 more seconds, it won't matter much

 

[satyamy]

Samsung LCD 940BW widescreen Rs 14800/-

hey why taking LCD if using Photoshop
u'll never get correct color in LCD
for photoshoping you must always use Flat CRT Monitors
& ya if u have much money than go for 19" Flat CRT
__________
me too use this same thing which ur frd need
means photoshop, corel, games, 24hrs net, downloading, chat surf etc.
i uses Intel 945, 3.0 HT, 1GB Transcend, 120GB HDD, DVD Writer, 2.1 Creative, MM KB, Opt. Mouse, 17" Flat Sam. Monitor & Umax Powerlook Scanner

 

[ranjan2001]

hey why taking LCD if using Photoshop
u'll never get correct color in LCD
for photoshoping you must always use Flat CRT Monitors
& ya if u have much money than go for 19" Flat CRT

Well that was true 2 years ago but lately the LCD are equally color acurate & leave CRT behind. My 2 yrs old Zenith laptop which is hardware calibrated show far superior results than my Samsung 17Inch flatron CRT.

There are many LCDs now working in graphic arts application Eizo, apple cinema display, dell, viewsonic & Nec all make pro series.
__________

a graphics card is indeed a relevent factor in this config, just not high grade, or even mainstream gaming grade graphics card just get a PCIe 7300GS, with 256 MB RAM, thats enough for this task

Thats for Rs 3800/- & seems to do good job & has a DVI port

1 GB X2 RAM modules is a better choice

Seems I will consider going for E6400 & save money for 2 gb of kingston ram

Thanks for explaining this.
__________
Ok I decided that I will go for 6400 & overclock this to 3.4-3.8 range which will require a good heatsink & cooling paste with good cabinet.

I am thinking of applying thermal paste & have 120mm fan for inflow & 80mm fan for outflow for a better air circulation. Are any of products available in delhi from Antec or Thermal take their cabinets are good solutionfor cool towers.
Does over clocking E6400 require more than 450watts smps?

 

[gxsaurav]

overclocking is something i won't recomend

if u do plan to overclock, make sure u have proper fans & cooling, which is hard to find in india, search yourself in the local market, thats the best way

E6400 upto 3.4 GHz...well, better check ou tanandtech.com, some people were able to reach that speed with Gigabyte DS3 motherboard. however, even if u buy an E6400 & overclock to 2.4 GHz, even then it's a lot of horsepower while still being safe

 

[Ch@0s]

Well that was true 2 years ago but lately the LCD are equally color acurate & leave CRT behind. My 2 yrs old Zenith laptop which is hardware calibrated show far superior results than my Samsung 17Inch flatron CRT.

If you want anything remotely related to accurate color, look for only S-IPS panels. The only one that I know thats available in India is the Dell 2007WFP. It retails in India for around 25grand. No other kind of panel is suitable for photoshop work, especially not the cheapo TN panel that you are suggesting. Its a 6bit+2bit frc panel with horrid color reproduction. For that kinda price, you are better off with a 19-20" CRT. If you must have an LCD, get the dell else there's no point. Cheap 17" CRTs are no good either but a 19" or larger from Philips or Viewsonic is in a different class altogether that can only be matched by S-IPS panels.

@gxsaurav... you gotta be kidding me. C2Ds can be clocked to 3GHz easy on stock cooling. Look here:

*img117.imageshack.us/img117/4656/picze7.th.jpg

This is with a decent air cooler.

 

[ranjan2001]

E6400 upto 3.4 GHz...well, better check ou tanandtech.com, some people were able to reach that speed with Gigabyte DS3 motherboard. however, even if u buy an E6400 & overclock to 2.4 GHz, even then it's a lot of horsepower while still being safe

I read about overclocking these here
*www.techspot.com/article/13-intel-core2duo-e6300-e6700-overclocking/

So indeed they can be over clocked well over 3GHz.

If you want anything remotely related to accurate color, look for only S-IPS panels

Last I read about them was recently in context that before they reached the market they have been replaced with a better technology.....................so this will always happen................something will always be comming.
Dell 2007WFP has this but still shows banding issues in the desktop mode (read the thread here in reviews)

I tested 1912w viewsonic for this banding issue & it was perfect without any issue, it all depends how good is a graphic card in dithering 6 bits to 8 bits.

So my question remained unanswered
I am thinking of applying thermal paste & have 120mm fan for inflow & 80mm fan for outflow for a better air circulation. Are any of products available in delhi from Antec or Thermal take their cabinets are good solutionfor cool towers.
Does over clocking E6400 require more than 450watts smps?

 

[sysfilez]

a good amout of ram is needed, thats it. photoshop will run fine.

 

[ranjan2001]

a good amout of ram is needed, thats it. photoshop will run fine.

XP with 3gb switched ON can max allocate 2.5Gb to photoshop so using 2Gb initially should be fine can upgrade further when required.

 

[Ch@0s]

I read about overclocking these here
*www.techspot.com/article/13-intel-core2duo-e6300-e6700-overclocking/

So indeed they can be over clocked well over 3GHz.


Last I read about them was recently in context that before they reached the market they have been replaced with a better technology.....................so this will always happen................something will always be comming.
Dell 2007WFP has this but still shows banding issues in the desktop mode (read the thread here in reviews)

I tested 1912w viewsonic for this banding issue & it was perfect without any issue, it all depends how good is a graphic card in dithering 6 bits to 8 bits.

So my question remained unanswered
I am thinking of applying thermal paste & have 120mm fan for inflow & 80mm fan for outflow for a better air circulation. Are any of products available in delhi from Antec or Thermal take their cabinets are good solutionfor cool towers.
Does over clocking E6400 require more than 450watts smps?

No issues with 2007WFP now. The later batches of A02 and the newer A03 revision models are completely fixed with no banding.... Graphics card doesn't dither btw... its the monitor that dithers. I've done a side by side comparison of my 2005 with the 1912wb-3 and there's basically no comparison... the viewsonic looks completely washed out. If you want a good cabinet and fans, look for coolermaster. I think their disty is SMC International in Delhi. Its the quality of the PSU that matters more than how many watts it claims. If you get a 350-400W antec/coolermaster you should be fine.

 

[akshayt]

you mean power supply.

 

[ranjan2001]

I've done a side by side comparison of my 2005 with the 1912wb-3 and there's basically no comparison... the viewsonic looks completely washed out.

This can happen with any monitor comprasion, did u checked the brightness with some hardware, each monitor is capable of different brightness levels, whereas when you calibrate 130 cd/m2 is recommended. I will look into that monitor again.

SMC International in Delhi
any contact info address telephone or email??

Thanks